9. Defying the odds
DEFYING THE ODDS
Ursula was woken by an alarm call that could only be Charlie Big Potatoes.
His plaintive miaow was coming from somewhere very close but, this time, it wasn’t from the other side of the bedroom door.
Nor was it from the wardrobe or from under the bed.
There was only one other place he could be.
She drew the curtains back and, sure enough, there he was perched on the sill.
He glared at her with such comical outrage that she just had to open the window for him. ‘Do come in, Mr Big Potatoes.’
The cat stepped in, leaving a trail of paw prints behind him.
She wiped it away with a tissue and tried to dry his paws before he made any further mess.
It earned her a bite that pierced her skin but it soon stopped bleeding when she ran it under the cold tap.
Charlie stuck his head in the running water and began lapping it up.
Ursula turned the flow down to a trickle and went back to the window.
The rain had been almost non-stop throughout the night.
It had left a heavy mist on top of the hill, but it looked like it might be clearing up.
At dinner last night, Don had said it was a tradition for all newcomers to take their first trip up that hill alone.
That was before the atmosphere had gone so far downhill that no amount of polite chit-chat could rescue it, and before she took fright and fled to her room.
Ursula was cross with herself for doing that, but not entirely surprised.
Having finished his drink, Charlie Big Potatoes jumped onto the ledge and pushed his wet head against her, his purr almost as loud as his cry.
She rubbed the back of it, making him push even harder.
Ursula smiled. ‘I’m going to make a deal with you, Charlie.
If the sun comes out by the time I’m washed and dressed. I’m going to climb that hill.’
The sun had come out when she and Charlie got down to the kitchen.
The two cats that she’d nearly fallen over on the first day were tucking into their breakfasts.
Charlie nudged the smallest one out of the way and stuck his head in the bowl.
Without a word, Don put down another bowl for the little thing and it carried on eating.
To her surprise, Megan came in through the back door with a basket of eggs. ‘Not too many today, Don. The rain must have upset them. Morning, Ursula. Got any plans for today?’
‘I thought I’d climb that hill behind the house.’
‘Really? Well good luck to you. I hope you’ve got a warm coat. It can get cold up there.’
‘Do you climb it then, Megan?’ said Don.
‘Not since they forced me to at school, Don. I won’t be going up again, thank you very much. Gareth likes a walk up there, mind. He’s my son, Ursula. You got any kids, have you?’
‘No.’
‘No? Well they can be a blessing and a curse. I’m not always sure which. I’m off to work.’
‘Don’t believe a word of it. She dotes on that young man,’ said Don, after she’d gone. ‘I’ll make you some sandwiches and coffee to take. You never know how long you’re going to be when you’re up there. It draws you in.’
She found Andi in the library room hunched over a computer. ‘Just doing the monthly accounts. Dull but necessary.’
Ursula flashed the backpack Don had given to her. ‘I’m venturing up the hill. Keeping the tradition going.’
‘You don’t have to you know.’
‘I think I’d like to do though. It’s my small act of defiance.’
Andi took off her reading glasses and rubbed her eyes. ‘I haven’t heard that for a few years.’
Neither had she until it popped up in her head yesterday morning. How strange that it was making a reappearance when all she wanted to do these days was run away from anything the least bit challenging.
Andi broke her train of thought: ‘Who or what are you defying?’
‘Not sure. The odds probably.’
‘Well I suppose that’s a start. It’s not that hard really if you take the path by the bothy. Just a steady incline. Brett’s working on it this morning. He’ll point the way out for you.’
‘Okay, see you later.’ Ursula slipped on her waterproof and threw the backpack over her shoulder.
‘Maybe I should try some small acts of defiance as well.’
She was on her way out the door when Andi said it and she had to turn back round. ‘And who or what would you be defying?’
Andi gave her an impish grin. ‘The odds. Definitely the odds.’
Ursula smiled and tried not to think about how guilty she was feeling for shooting off on her first proper day here.
She was feeling bad about last night too.
She should have stuck around and waited for the opportunity for that talk but as well as being spooked, she’d been a bit annoyed with Andi over Esme’s rudeness. ‘We’ll talk later, yeah?’
‘Yeah.’ Andi slipped her reading glasses back on and resumed her work on the computer. Ursula left her and headed for the bothy.
Brett was working alone but he had Esteban for company. He showed Ursula the best track to take and she set off with the dog on her heels. She turned back to Brett. ‘He thinks he’s coming with me.’
‘No worries. He knows the area better than any of us. He’ll come back down when he’s had enough.’
Ursula set back off, already worried that she now had the responsibility of making sure the dog returned safely.
Esteban bounded ahead, pausing to wait for her at different stages of the climb.
Climb was probably something of an overstatement.
It was more of a long and winding upward slant that made her only slightly breathless.
She picked up her pace on the narrowing track until Esteban steered her away from a squelchy bog.
She saw then that she’d veered off onto a separate spur that was taking her nowhere and had to retrace her steps back to the path that went around a side of the hill that wasn’t visible from her bedroom window.
Here, she saw swathes of old and new bracken that cut through clumps of wispy yellow grass.
In the distance was a small building. She headed for it, only realising when she got closer that it was an upended tree.
The size and shape of its densely compacted roots had tricked her into thinking it was another bothy.
Pity. She could have done with a shelter now that the sun had gone and the clouds had descended.
She was wearing her warmest coat but it wasn’t enough to keep the cold out.
Esteban was waiting for her by a grove of tall firs at the top of the hill.
Ursula caught up with him and saw that he was standing by a construction made of branches stacked together like a small tepee.
She crawled inside and pulled him in with her.
To think she’d been worried about taking responsibility for him when it was he who was making sure she got back in one piece.
Feeling hungry, she took out the sandwiches Don had made for her.
Esteban’s ears pricked up as she opened them.
She broke off a corner for him. ‘Thank you for keeping me safe.’ He swallowed it in one gulp.
She gave him another and that was gone as quickly as the first. His head bobbed as if asking for the next one.
It made her laugh. She hadn’t expected to make new friends here, especially the four-legged kind.
Not that the other occupants of the house were friends yet.
She wasn’t even sure they liked her. Although Don seemed kind, as well as funny, and Brett was very pleasant.
Esme was trickier to define. Howard was the trickiest of all.
Over dinner last night, he’d hardly said a word.
You wouldn’t have known he was there if it wasn’t for the fact that he was the sort of man you noticed anyway.
But that was just the exterior of him. Inside, he seemed to be shutting down.
Ursula knew all about shutting down; she’d been doing it for most of her life.
But there had been a time when the opposite was true.
There’d been a time when she’d thought she was going to conquer the world.
And it had all started with Cass’s photos.
Discovering that her father had another family should have been the worst thing that could have happened to her.
Even worse than him leaving. But as it turned out, it was the best thing.
Who was it that said out of adversity comes opportunity?
She didn’t know, but whoever it was, they were right.